**** BEGIN LOGGING AT Sun May 06 02:59:56 2007 May 06 21:08:04 hello :) May 06 21:09:00 I got a "crazy" idea that I could build an mp3 alarm clock using nslu2 or similar hardware May 06 21:09:22 not so crazy idea that May 06 21:09:32 well, maybe to outsiders :) May 06 21:09:40 I already saw projects of how to add led displays and saw there was something about audio also May 06 21:09:58 the possibility to get more usb ports and serial out of the thing was also very nice May 06 21:10:06 yup May 06 21:10:18 * NAiL added a lcd-display May 06 21:10:21 :) May 06 21:10:42 I was thinking of what would be the best display to read during the night May 06 21:11:07 a VFD once May 06 21:11:10 s/once/one/ May 06 21:11:10 one possibility would be some display with 5x7 dot matrix leds for example May 06 21:11:11 NAiL meant: a VFD one May 06 21:11:29 hmm ok :) May 06 21:11:29 ah, well, yes. That's a possibility too... But an LCD-display is easier ;) May 06 21:11:41 yes, but they are usually quite small May 06 21:11:57 dunno how big would be good otoh :) May 06 21:12:23 ofc I could get a graphical lcd display that's bigger but it seems a bit overkill maybe May 06 21:12:42 a 5x7 led matrix is probably well-suited as a night-light ;) May 06 21:12:51 hehe.. May 06 21:13:13 saw maxim had some chips that control 4 5x7 displays with one chip over i2c May 06 21:13:20 and I recall seeing nslu2 has i2c May 06 21:13:24 yup May 06 21:38:23 * xkr47 wonders how fast vfds wear out May 06 21:39:04 haven't had one wear out on me yet May 06 21:39:17 I assume you have one ?-) May 06 21:39:22 a few May 06 21:39:34 cool, any pics & text ? May 06 21:39:59 lemme see if I can find any of the pictures May 06 21:40:31 if you know any good places where to buy, I'd be glad to hear alos May 06 21:40:39 s/los/lso/ May 06 21:40:39 xkr47 meant: if you know any good places where to buy, I'd be glad to hear also May 06 21:40:54 hmm May 06 21:40:55 well May 06 21:41:01 there's a few possible places May 06 21:41:36 I found some for 60-70e May 06 21:42:14 this looks nice http://www.matrixorbital.com/pimg/500/VK162-12.jpg May 06 21:43:14 yeah May 06 21:49:34 you found any pics ? :) May 06 21:49:56 no, but I know where they are May 06 21:50:03 they're in a backup on a remote machine May 06 21:50:24 basically, they're pics of a slug with the side cut out, and a 4x20 lcd-display May 06 21:50:35 and a DS101 with a 2x16 display May 06 21:50:42 ok May 06 21:51:21 do you have any suggestions whether the nslu2 would be good or whether some other version would suit a "alarm clock-with-mp3-player" project May 06 21:51:40 the nslu2 would be god May 06 21:51:41 good May 06 21:51:43 is the nslu2 cpu able to play mp3s and oggs.. May 06 21:51:48 mp3s, sure May 06 21:51:48 god also :) May 06 21:51:55 dunno about ogg, but probably ;) May 06 21:52:07 using the integer player whose name escapes my mind ;) May 06 21:52:28 You live in scandinavia too ? :) May 06 21:52:43 it seems to have escaped mine too May 06 21:52:59 yes, Norway May 06 21:53:09 nice, finland here May 06 21:53:21 I saw that ;) May 06 21:53:34 I could speak swedish to you, but I would maybe have a hard time understanding you depending on your dialect May 06 21:54:10 haha, depends May 06 21:54:15 (sorry for assuming builtin swedish babelfish, but most people from norway seems to understand well) May 06 21:54:15 anyway, english is good May 06 21:54:26 Swedish is easy May 06 21:54:38 Finnish is incomprehensible May 06 21:54:45 I know both :) May 06 21:55:13 anyway.. do you suggest that floating-point mp3 is not feasible ? May 06 21:55:35 (when you were referring to the integer vorbis player) May 06 21:55:56 no, I think mp3s play fine May 06 21:56:00 tremor, btw. May 06 21:56:04 right May 06 21:56:30 * xkr47 is unaware whether embedded platforms generally use some integer mp3 decoders May 06 21:56:55 I'm pretty sure there's integer decoders for mp3 available May 06 21:57:03 but mp3 doesn't require as much cpu as ogg May 06 21:57:13 I assume your slug runs at 266MHz? May 06 21:57:34 my slug is still in the shop, located 8 km from here ;) May 06 21:57:42 but not for long :) May 06 21:58:10 aah May 06 21:58:17 the only thing I'm afraid of is this project will affect work performance May 06 21:58:37 I was coming here to ask suggestions on hardware and so on before deciding May 06 21:59:01 as there seems to be many other hardware platforms supported too May 06 21:59:26 * NAiL is mostly working on powerpc devices nowadays May 06 21:59:31 I guess nslu2 is one of the smaller ones May 06 21:59:42 and it's silent May 06 21:59:53 which is a good thing if you're going to sleep in the same room as it May 06 22:00:00 yeah.. I just got a 2G usb flash stick for my 30th birthday :) May 06 22:00:24 NAiL, and I prefer to be without the wlan raditation when I sleep too :) May 06 22:00:34 hehe May 06 22:01:07 * NAiL has a bunch of NAS-devices May 06 22:01:39 yeah.. I recently moved into my first own apartment and haven't seen all the possibilities yet :) May 06 22:01:54 47 square metres of "unmapped" gadget space May 06 22:02:14 first, buy a 42U rack May 06 22:02:17 the nslu2 seems to cost 690 NOK here May 06 22:02:24 lool.. May 06 22:03:58 amazon suggests the list price for nslu2 is USD 190 :-D May 06 22:04:10 so I'm "saving" $103 by buying from them May 06 22:04:15 haha May 06 22:04:44 * xkr47 checks the nslu2 linux homepage for any suggested resellers May 06 22:05:04 or maybe that's a stupid idea :P May 06 22:05:32 http://www.buy.com/prod/linksys-nslu2-network-storage-link-for-usb-2-0-disk-drives/q/loc/101/10361254.html May 06 22:06:00 free shipping, cool May 06 22:06:08 but is that inside US only.. :P May 06 22:06:29 hehe, not surprisingly May 06 22:06:52 hmm I don't know, I was just suspicious May 06 22:08:21 hehe wonder if buy.com's 12 month replacement plan for $7.99 covers accidental bricking ;) May 06 22:09:45 unlikely ;) May 06 22:09:55 heh now buy.com wants me to get a buy.com visa card without annual fees and $30 extra rebate on the nslu2 May 06 22:10:26 where's the fine print.. :P May 06 22:16:22 * xkr47 notices that openwrt has made some attempts to run on nslu2 May 06 22:17:07 sorry if I offended anyone by mentioning that project.. :| May 06 22:17:22 ah, not at all May 06 22:17:46 openwrt isn't really that suitable though, being made for routers and such May 06 22:18:45 well having 3 years and thousands of users surely sounds better than "jffs2 image got a bit further, but complained /dev/null was missing" May 06 22:19:02 heh May 06 22:19:15 indeed May 06 22:19:33 * xkr47 notices it takes 61 to get to the "top 10 nslu2 donators" list May 06 22:19:57 feel free to climb high ;) May 06 22:20:08 I'll make my donation in yens ;-) May 06 22:20:20 * NAiL is kind of hoping that foonas will run fine on the slug at some point May 06 22:20:28 foonas ? May 06 22:20:38 yeah, foonas is my nas-centric distro May 06 22:21:13 working together with the linkstation community, to get aa distribution with a webinterface May 06 22:21:17 smaller / more suitable app portfolio / somethign else ? May 06 22:21:29 (modular webinterface, of course) May 06 22:21:39 "working together" == "I'm working together" ? May 06 22:21:47 yes May 06 22:22:02 perl is modular!! May 06 22:22:07 there's basically two developers. Me and timtimred from linkstationwiki ;) May 06 22:22:14 perl is too large ;) May 06 22:23:10 luckily I have a 2G memory stick! May 06 22:23:13 yeah May 06 22:23:17 or do you mean the ram is not enough ? May 06 22:23:41 no, it just takes too much space to be in flash May 06 22:23:44 * xkr47 wonders how 32M of ram feels like May 06 22:24:02 my first computer had 1M May 06 22:24:02 feels like enough in most cases ;) May 06 22:24:29 I have 3 gigs in my linux workstation-server ;-) May 06 22:24:34 nice May 06 22:24:46 so.. I have a hard time imagining 1/100 of that May 06 22:26:08 are there any other options to brick a nslu2 except the eraseall tool ? May 06 22:26:41 is there some backup rom that can receive a flash image in case the flash is bust ? May 06 22:26:57 as long as you don't touch the bootloader, you're fine May 06 22:27:04 eraseall is a *bad* idea May 06 22:27:13 yeah the front page is clear on that May 06 22:27:24 is there any need to upgrade the bootloader at all ? May 06 22:27:28 no May 06 22:28:07 great! so I don't have to worry about bricking the nslu2 then May 06 22:28:27 I'm always afraid of flashing devices May 06 22:30:54 yeah May 06 22:31:04 I've bricked a couple of devices permanently May 06 22:31:05 sucks May 06 22:31:14 nslu2? :P May 06 22:31:22 what devices.. May 06 22:33:07 Synology DS-101 May 06 22:33:14 and QNAP TS-101 May 06 22:33:30 the ds-101 was slu(n)g-compatible, right ? May 06 22:34:02 mostly, yes May 06 22:34:06 same cpu May 06 22:34:40 some motherboards have some failsafe rom that can't be flashed and that only supports flashing May 06 22:34:59 some dip-switch on the mobo switches between the flash and the rom May 06 22:38:24 hmm you had some vfd links ? May 06 22:51:38 I've been keeping an eye on openmoko too and a friend was suggesting to make an alarm clock from that instead May 06 22:52:13 but I thought it would be less cool and also would require me to remember to remove the phone from the backpack or risk not waking up in the morning :) May 06 22:55:42 loool.. http://www.crazypc.com/images/cases/caseaccessories/lcd/mx422full.jpg May 06 23:04:54 haha May 06 23:05:42 I've lost all my lcd links May 06 23:05:49 recently had my laptop hdd die on me May 06 23:05:50 :D May 06 23:05:52 :( May 06 23:10:24 I've mostly got displays from sparkfun May 06 23:11:01 if you do small electronic hacking stuff, sparkfun is great ;) May 06 23:15:59 * xkr47 is testing how vfd displays will cope with doublesize fonts May 06 23:16:07 in gimp.. :) May 06 23:16:29 haha May 06 23:19:48 hmm.. May 06 23:20:27 http://xkr47.outerspace.dyndns.org/tmp/MOP-AV162A-BNNN-with-a-doublesize-9.jpg May 06 23:21:30 oops May 06 23:21:57 not too pretty May 06 23:22:05 seems the 8th pixel line is a underline May 06 23:22:12 can't say for sure but.. May 06 23:23:23 funnily enough, I seem to have one pdf from sparkfun open atm :) May 06 23:25:10 they've got a *lot* of nifty stuff May 06 23:49:42 rwhitby-airport: Ping-ping. Have time for a small chat? May 06 23:51:55 sure, I have 1.5 hours to kill before the plane leaves May 06 23:52:23 NAiL, hehe http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=569# May 06 23:52:57 rwhitby-airport, thank you for mentioning the nslu2 project to me some 4 months ago :) May 06 23:53:37 xkr47: np May 06 23:53:55 xkr47: seen them. Neat. I think I have a couple of phones I can dig those out of though ;) May 06 23:54:10 :) May 06 23:55:07 rwhitby-airport: I was wondering, what is the Christian's npe/ethernet driver state? Has Christian abandoned it, for it was more than three months since I've seen the last message from him on the linux-arm-kernel list, and I could not reach him with email within a week. May 06 23:55:43 xl0: dunno - I haven't needed to talk to him in that time - the driver itself seems to be working fine in slugos and debian. May 06 23:55:44 Have you heard of him since january? May 07 00:01:03 Funny, just as we spoke, (and I spoke to Lennert an hour ago), some guy posted some updated patches. May 07 00:01:41 xl0: on l-a-k? May 07 00:01:42 xl0: got a link? May 07 00:01:55 l-a-k May 07 00:02:10 Only the [PATCH 0/3] came yet. May 07 00:02:43 But I still can't believe how precise the timing was. May 07 00:03:14 last minute save :) May 07 00:04:12 heh May 07 00:04:25 * NAiL isn't subscribed to l-a-k, and there doesn't seem to be a live archive May 07 00:04:59 mind forwarding the relevant mails to nail at nslu2-linux org? May 07 00:05:01 NAiL: netdev@vget.kernel.org also got the message. May 07 00:05:21 *netdev@vger.kernel.org May 07 00:05:33 * NAiL gotta go to bed May 07 00:05:34 nite all May 07 00:05:48 ah, good that netdev is involved now May 07 00:06:52 nite AwayNAiL May 07 00:07:45 It is a bit strange that Christian is not in the CC list. May 07 00:08:48 And the mail also says that this is not the original Christian's driver with fixes, but a rewrite from scratch. May 07 00:09:15 (but you night already have read this, http://www.spinics.net/lists/netdev/) May 07 00:14:14 interesting - looks like this Krysztof guy is forking the open source driver May 07 00:17:40 He has patches in the kernel already, and is the kernel maintainer for "GENERIC HDLC DRIVER, N2, C101, PCI200SYN and WANXL DRIVERS May 07 00:17:40 " May 07 00:17:55 So that looks very promising. May 07 00:18:10 we need to test those patches in SlugOS ASAP. May 07 00:20:34 rwhitby: Have you glanced at the patches yet? Is this a fork, or really a rewrite? I see he adds some HSS stuff which was not in the Christian's driver, but what about the other parts? May 07 00:20:54 dunno yet. I'm sending him an email. May 07 00:31:49 haven't seen the three patch emails yet. May 07 00:38:23 ok, I see the patches now May 07 01:09:09 Backported them to our internal 2.6.20+patches branch, now building. **** ENDING LOGGING AT Mon May 07 02:59:56 2007